sanden compressors versus OEM

[Pawl]

Pawl here again guys,
Thanks for the help regarding my A/C problems on an earlier thread.My brother had an A/C repairman tell him that the compressor on my GMC is usually good for about 65000 miles.I have 78,000 right now so I was thinking about just changing the compressor.I was told Sanden is a better compressor than OEM but after looking at a website selling compressors the OEM replacement was $40 more than Sanden.I was going to replace with new compressor,dryer and orifice tube with some R134 A. I know I am no air conditioning guru but is there anything else to do.Clean out condensor? I am open to suggestions even if someone tells me I am over my head doing this.Does anyone else think Sanden is better than OEM?Any suggestions on anything else to do to make sure it works right. Thanks

[maxwedge]

Last 65k? How about 265k in my vehicle, why fool with a working system?

[Pawl]

Maxwedge ,
I take advice well. Thanks for the input. So it sounds like you just do the maintenance as needed on your current system.

[maxwedge]

Correct, fix leaks before there is an issue, keep the condenser clean, normal stuff.

[Pawl]

maxwedge
When you say keep the condensor clean is that done just with regular maintenance on the system or does it have to be removed and cleaned? On my other thread I said I had a leak in my compressor so they used a compressor seal kit.One of the guys replying to my thread said it is possible that after they fixed it I could have still had a leak.Maybe that was you.If that is true maybe it took this long to show a problem because I dont drive the vehicle much ( 5600 miles since the repair 3.5 yrs ago ) and now it seems to be out of R134A.

[maxwedge]

Keep the condenser fins clean. You never mentioned the year here, was this a 134 conversion, if so slow leaks are common as the oe hoses and seals do not seal 134 very well. If this is a 94 up oe 134 system get it leak tested to pinpoint the problem.

[Pawl]

99 GMC Suburban SLT- I put two 13oz cans of R 134 with some oil/seal leak mixture and the temp went down to 42 while driving.I have one of those quick attachments with a gauge with the other side for adding refrigerant and it went from the green (low) into purple (full).I will just keep an eye on it. As far as the fins staying clean when I first got the vehicle 3 years ago I placed some fine screening in front of the radiator to keep debris and bugs out.I cleaned the fins just before I put screen in.

[maxwedge]

Ok, so where did the freon go?